Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 Source: Western Star, The (CN NF) Copyright: 2007 The Western Star Contact: http://www.thewesternstar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2523 Author: Michael Downey, The Western Star Bookmark: http://drugnews.org/people/Kieran+King (Kieran King) INDEPENDENTLY THINK WHAT WE TELL YOU TO Apparently, the town of Wawota, Saskatchewan is a hysterical backwater police state. Who knew? Most people probably wouldn't, considering Wawota is seemingly just another small town dotting the map of this fetid and deteriorating nation. Like hundreds of its brethren, it will gain national attention once in it's lifetime for the type of absurdity you can't ignore, and that only a small town is capable of fostering. I'm sure that by now you've all seen the headlines about what Wawota, Sask., does to its young people who educate themselves during their free time. In case you've somehow missed this bizarre civil rights twister, I'll give you a recap of the atrocities you can expect to face if you ever decide you want to raise your children in small town Saskatchewan. A few weeks ago Kieran King, the hapless extoller of common sense and centerpiece of controversy, was sitting in his Grade 10 class at Wawota Parkland School, undergoing an attempted brainwashing by an audiovisual presentation on the dangers of drugs. Now I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about - the type of high school presentation that portrays marijuana is a dangerous and addictive substance that young people ingest before turning into horrible drug addled hobgoblins who will rape your women-folk and suck out the eyeballs of your children blah blah blah. The Evils of Marijuana presentations, which for some unknown reason, despite being factually incorrect distortions of the truth, continue to play in schools each year. Kieran King, a 15-year-old honours student, who, by all accounts, does not smoke pot and, in fact, has never even seen the drug, decided to do some research himself. Despite his age, I'm willing to believe Kieran's drug-free position, regardless of the fact that his own personal drug use or lack thereof is irrelevant since what happened next has less to do with drugs, and all to do with free speech and an intelligence that most human beings lack. The result of his research was that Kieran learned a widely recognized fact outside of government and school policy, and that is that marijuana is probably the least dangerous drug on the planet. So he told his classmates of his findings -especially the widely accepted truth that alcohol and tobacco is far more dangerous, to the point of ridiculousness considering the availability of both. I can identify with what happened next, because I've worn these shoes. The abhorrent abomination known as the public education system really helps foster independent thought in young people - especially when it threatens to call the police, which principal Susan Wilson did in order to crush the life out of anybody who stands to threaten government propagation of lies about drugs. Kieran felt his rights were being threatened, so he organized a meagre protest outside the school involving a half dozen social radicals. The school was thrown into lockdown and the RCMP were called, who arrived to find Kieran, his brother, an NDP member, and a few members of the Marijuana Party standing quietly in the parking lot. As a result, Kieran was suspended during exams, dropping his grades 30 points, which won't cause him to fail since he's an honour student, but will damage his overall grade. Wawota Parkland School has drawn media attention to what is an embodiment of disaster in the public education system. All across the country, officials are making a farce out of the concept of education by disseminating the only things they know - long incubated distortions of the truth about history, drugs, gender roles, politics, etc. It's not just the threat to free speech that has been embodied in this Wawota fiasco - it's the widely encouraged insult to common sense and thirst for learning. School lockdowns and police intervention; because one student took it upon himself to undertake what all students should be encouraged to undertake: the pursuit of knowledge on one's own accord. But I guess that sort of initiative doesn't have a place in a system designed not to produce thinkers, but obedient, half-asleep, corporate knobs. Yes, this has all marked another sad chapter in the downward spiral of this nation. The public education system is rife with travesties such as this one. With the retirement of so many baby boomers in the next few years, the tide will turn quickly towards a younger generation of new teachers, which I'm hoping will cause an upswing in the integrity of public education, and hopefully, much needed changes to the foreboding spectre that it has become. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom